I came to learn that Henry Mintzberg came up with ten management roles in the year 1990 after observing the roles, responsibilities and personalities of leaders composed of senior executives and chief executive officers of various organizations. Mintzberg’s managerial roles were first published in the book Mintzberg on Management: Inside our Strange World of Mintzberg. The ten managerial roles are divided into three groups namely interpersonal, informational and decisional (Yukl, 1989). After completing the managerial analysis, I reached the conclusion that the role of manager is integral to the success of any organization. A manager has to take up the role of a leader which involves taking special care of the employees by motivating them and encouraging them to reach their desired aims and objectives. A manager is also involved in taking important organizational decisions and any one wrong choice on his part can cost the organization therefore, managers see decision making as one of their core responsibilities. Communicating the policies, innovative measures and upcoming ventures to the internal members such as the employees and stakeholders outside the organization such as vendors, investors, and consumers is also a significant managerial role. Ensuring that resource allocation is done optimally is also a managerial responsibility. It was really interesting to learn that sometimes, managers’ posses’ leadership qualities whereas sometimes, they have to acquire through special trainings. In other way, managers act as leaders to bring a good name to the organization.
Although all roles of managers have their own significance but I believe that decisional roles are more challenging and important in managing a complex and hanging work environment. A manager is the one who is responsible for taking a business initiative and successfully carry out its planning and implementation. Whenever there is a disagreement between the internal and external employees of the organization, the manager plays the role of mediator and brings down things to normal. A manager is responsible for ensuring that sufficient resources are allocated to each of the organizational departments and that all departments make optimal use of them to reach goals in harmony. Allio (2009) suggests that negotiation is an important role played by a manager where he has to ensure that he coordinates with the team members inside and outside the organization, acquiring business contracts for future and motivating subordinates to synchronize their goals with the ultimate objectives of the organization.
Moving forward, I would say that personally I feel that I need to work on improving my interpersonal roles beyond my current capabilities to yield maximum and positive output. A great way to achieve interpersonal goals would be by developing by communication skills. In the business world, no one can achieve any good thing if he or she is unable to communicate his/her concerns to the other party or candidate. People listen to those who are able to put their views across successfully. In the soaring competition of today, communication skills matter a lot. I believe that by doing communication exercises or by taking up special training programs, my skills will improve and I would be able to generate better personal and professional results in future. I must also interact more informally with my peers and coworkers so that my hesitation fades away and I can communicate my ideas more confidently to them.
In organizations, feedback is seen as an important tool which helps the organization and its employee understand how well or bad they are doing, their direction, their strategies and if necessary, they take immediate corrective measures. Feedbacks are also known for identifying the strengths and weaknesses of an individual and an organization as a whole. Whenever any new plan or strategy is implemented, feedback is obtained from those getting involved into it both directly and indirectly so that any performance lapses are fixed and strengths are highlighted and polished. Harms, Roebuck (2010) suggested that feedback is a great activity to ensure that is proper alignment between individual and organizational goals. Being a manager or leader, I would encourage feedback about my personality and actions. I would even appreciate feedback for my immediate team. Comments regarding my performance in the form of feedback will help me identify my strong and weak areas. This will lead to further strengthening of strong points of my personality and I will struggle hard to get rid of those traits which take the shape of my weakness. Feedbacks which focus on my strengths will also be considered quite valuable as they will motivate me to perform better with my team fellows and yield even better results in future. Furthermore, if the positive feedback is directed at my team, they would certainly take it as highly constructive and work with more enthusiasm and motivation to bring the element of positivity to their working environment.
I believe that in order to ensure that I give and receive feedback while keeping my mind positive and attentive, I need to develop my listening and observation skills. Good feedback is the result of good listening and observing skills. If I develop the ability to listen to the supervisor carefully and analyze his feedback comments in a positive frame then it is certain that I would be able to switch my weaknesses into strengths. Moreover, developing is an eye contact with the speaker is what I usually lack during a feedback session which needs to be maintained in order to enhance confidence levels and understand the remarks in a better manner. While giving feedback, I must ensure that my sense of observation and judgment do not mislead me. For that, I need to be very vigilant while observing my subordinate or team members for feedback. While giving feedback, I must keep a positive and respectful tone, even though the feedback is negative so that the team members do not lose confidence in the abilities and self esteem and perceive the feedback positively. Furthermore, I will make certain that the feedback I provide must be timely and specific. I will prefer to listen to the remarks of team mates on my feedback so that I can also identify the direction in which my abilities are developing.
In a multi cultural environment, I need to develop flexibility towards people belonging to various backgrounds. Every employee values his own religion and culture and would never expect anyone to go against it otherwise; it can lead to serious conflicts and disturbance in the work environment. I would be very flexible towards different cultures and backgrounds and would express my willingness to learn about the norms of diverse workforce. This will not only help me improve my knowledge on various cultures but would also enable me to understand various leadership and managerial styles practiced in those cultures. By valuing and incorporating the learned managerial and leadership approaches into my personal goals, I will be able to improve upon my skill set and perform better with the multi cultural team members (Kaplan, 2008). The team mates would also respond to my ideas and concerns in a positive manner if they get to know that I am flexible towards having a diverse work environment.
Transformational style is seen a great leadership trait which is meant to bringing about a change such that the mindset of employees and strategies work in harmony with each other. Transformation occurs when a leader is fully aware of his personal and organizational goals as well as the capabilities of his team. During a transformation, a leader communicates a solution to a problem or discusses a new idea in a manner that the organizational employees show complete adherence to his abilities and trust his vision completely. Such is the influence of a leader that brings immense improvements in the organizations while having the acceptance and support of the employees (Bass, Steidlmeier, 1999). Transformation occur only when the leader uses his vision, experience and strong personality traits to influence the employees of an organization to cooperate with him and accept his ideas and decisions (Bennis, Thomas, 2002).
A transformation experience or a critical incident can help me understand the situations where a leader serves as an ultimate rescuer. By making use of his charismatic personality and strong vision, a leader can transform the thinking and approach of team members such that they work in coherence toward the achievement of ultimate objective. A leader is aware of his personality completely and trusts his capabilities which make him lead an entire organization and even whole nations. Therefore, I believe having a clear vision can lead to a transformation which could yield fruitful results in future.
There are certain traits in a manager and leader which make him exceptional from the rest of the crowd. A manager or a leader is someone who knows how to make his team accept goals and work towards it attainment. He does so by motivating them to achieve their targets by making use of creative abilities, positive attitude, charismatic personality and a clear vision for future. He naturally has the power to influence others such that they develop strong bond of trust with him and always look up to him for guidance and assistance in adverse situations (Livingston, 2003). A leader is the one who keeps employees loyal to the organization by motivating them and encouraging them over trifle of their achievement and ensures that no employee loses focus from his personal and professional goals. Sometimes, a manager or leader possess such qualities innately whereas sometimes, they have to be acquired through specialized trainings or life changing experiences (Collins, 2005)
Brown, Mitchell (2010) proposed that certain situations arise in daily dealings which makes one question about his personal and professional values on ethics. Many a times, I have to face situations which have been contradictory to my personal and professional values. For instance, there was a case regarding this relative of mine who committed a fraud with the organization in the capacity of a supplier. The team decided to end all business terms with him and issue a fine for a few thousand dollars on him. Being a relative and at a powerful designation, he and his family expected me to waive off the harsh terms and speak in his favor to which I completely disagreed. This action on my part was in line with my professional values and ethics whereas at personal level, I was not feeling very good from inside. I was scared of the complex family terms but then I had a duty to the organization which I was to be fulfilled in any way and also conform to the code of ethics.
I would say that PPDP has helped me think of my goals in a very organized and rational manner. Previously, the goals I had were never really organized like I was not sure which ones to achieve first and which ones are at least priority. Moreover, I was unsure as to how much time would each of my goals would take for accomplishment. I did not even know how I should go about reaching my personal and professional goals; which path to choose and which to refrain from. Now that I jot all my goals down along with the timeline and key steps, my orientation and thinking has become very clear and I am motivated to achieve my goals before the defined time in an effective manner.
The reading and articles shared helped me broaden my vision on the roles and responsibilities of a manager and leader to an extent that I was able to identify the traits in my personality which needed more work to develop myself as a good leader and manager. I came to learn about the differences and similarities between leaders and managers. I learned that the importance of leader in any walk of life is emphasized and without a leader, we all would be like sheep grazing aimlessly on a landscape. I came to know about management theories and leadership styles in much detail which added up to my knowledge and interests. Specifically I learned about Catalytic Mechanism, a tool discussed by Collins (1999) where it says that with the help of catalytic mechanism, goals become attainable and a strong connection build up between performance and objectives.
Setting up goals, action plans and ensuring that the progress towards goal attainment is being done properly is one of the key roles of a leader. These responsibilities fall in the interpersonal roles. A leader or manager has to ensure that the goal setting is carried out by keeping the goals of employees and organization in harmony so as to have a positive working environment. Keeping a track of the activities and motivation level of employees towards goal attainment must also be done. Feedback is a crucial activity which a leader must undertake in order to ensure that strengths and weaknesses are identified and timely and corrective measures are taken.
My opinion is that goal setting and achievement is a personal task but it is never harmful to interact with people and network to get a good insight about your goals and refine them accordingly. A little output from the external environment is always helpful as it can yield better, useful and more productive ways to goal achievement.
References
Bass, B.M. and Steidlmeier, P., 1999. Ethics, character, and authentic transformational leadership behavior. The leadership quarterly, 10(2), pp.181-217.
Bennis, W.G. and Thomas, R.J., 2002. Crucibles of leadership. Harvard business review, pp.60-69.
Brown, M.E. and Mitchell, M.S., 2010. Ethical and unethical leadership: Exploring new avenues for future research. Business Ethics Quarterly,20(04), pp.583-616.
Collins, J., 1999. Turning goals into results: The power of catalytic mechanisms. Harvard business review, 77, pp.70-84.
Collins, J., 2005. Level 5 leadership: the triumph of humility and fierce resolve.
Harms, P.L. and Roebuck, D.B., 2010. Teaching the art and craft of giving and receiving feedback.
Kaplan, R.S., 2008. Reaching your potential. Harvard Business Review,86(7/8), pp.45-49.
Livingston, J.S., 2003. Pygmalion in management. Harvard business review,81(1), pp.97-106.
Robert J. Allio, (2009),"Leadership - the five big ideas", Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 37 Iss: 2 pp. 4 – 12
Yukl, G., 1989. Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research. Journal of management, 15(2), pp.251-289.
